


Stages

by jessicamiriamdrew



Category: The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-12
Updated: 2012-06-12
Packaged: 2017-11-07 14:25:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/432139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicamiriamdrew/pseuds/jessicamiriamdrew
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The five stages of the relationship between Darcy Lewis and Bruce Banner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stages

Darcy Lewis and Bruce Banner had been dating for six months and three days when he left. All the note said was “I’m sorry.” He told Tony he was going to India, didn’t plan on coming back. He didn’t give Darcy any clues at all.

**Courtship and infatuation**  
After the whole Norse demigod thing, Darcy and Jane had a pretty intense bond of friendship. What else could result from being the only people to know about something like this? Darcy became her official assistant, having gained her final six credits working for Jane during The Thor Incident.

And then there was the alien attack in New York and Jane was devastated she’d missed a chance to see Thor. Darcy comforted her the best she could but it wasn’t until SHIELD called offering Jane a position as an astrophysicist there that Jane smiled again.

This was the only way Darcy Lewis ever met Bruce Banner. Darcy happened to be in the right place at the right time more than once.

He was shy, unassuming, and Darcy wanted him on first sight. She approached him and he was surprised by her interest in him. From there it was coffee dates and movie nights. He put on science fiction movies and Darcy fell asleep curled against him every time and he never called her out on it.

They ate lunch together and rarely spent the night alone and everything felt right.

**The Power Struggle**  
But then Bruce had so much work to do and Darcy was bored. She wanted to do things, spend time together, go out. Bruce was exhausted and didn’t get why things always had to be on and exciting. He wanted to relax.

Movie nights trickled down. Bruce got annoyed that Darcy never stayed awake and never seemed interested. He yelled at her, accusing her of not being invested in the relationship, of not caring about him.

Darcy yelled back. She broke a coffee mug. She said maybe this was a mistake and he was too old. Bruce told her to stop being such a stubborn little girl.

They tiptoed around the L world. Was there any love in their relationship at all or had it merely been a situation of convenience?

**Re-evaluation and identity formation**  
They maybe had sex once a month and it felt like a chore. Darcy started spending her off work hours away from Bruce and the other Avengers. She came into the mansion plastered one evening. Bruce yelled at her the next morning about being irresponsible. Darcy told him not to be so controlling.

They didn’t speak for two days.

Darcy flirted with Clint and Bruce pretended not to notice. He suddenly began to speak frequently about Betty Ross.

Bruce accused Darcy of cheating on him. They rarely had sex anyway, so what did it matter? They yelled and fought and ended up in bed together. Sex didn’t satiate any of their anger. It left them confused and upset. They didn’t stay the night together.

**Awareness, Transformation, Synergy**  
Bruce showed up with flowers. Darcy kissed him and apologized. They held each in bed for hours, whispering apologies and promises for a happier future. He bought her a promise ring for better times ahead. Darcy knit him a scarf and pushed hope into every stitch.

They resolved to make more of an effort. Every Thursday evening, they had a date. Sometimes it meant watching a movie and Darcy kept herself awake through each one. Bruce went out to bars with Darcy and didn’t complain. They tried to find joy in each other once again.

**Reconciliation or rejection**  
Darcy believed in reconciliation. She thought problems could be fixed, prevented from recurring. Fight or flight had been drilled into Bruce his entire life. He thought the fighting would come back. He chose to fly.

Darcy was grounded. She wasn’t a superhero or a villain. She had been lucky so many times. It made sense that her luck couldn’t last.

In retrospect, all the signs of flight were evident. That didn’t make Darcy hurt any less as she thought about Bruce hiding in another part of the world. Their relationship so hard that he had to flee to another country.

She felt it when he couldn’t hold her hand in public. He only said “I love you” when Darcy had said it first. For all of the time that they spent together, Darcy wondered if he had ever opened up.

His flight was rejection. She wondered if infatuation could ever begin again, if people reconnected.  
Things she thought myths were true but nothing else had changed. There wasn’t a fairy tale here or any sort of moral lesson. Darcy hurt and a small, mean part hoped Bruce was hurting more.

She wondered what kept him running away and if she would ever be enough to make someone stay.

**Author's Note:**

> la la la no one ever gets to be happy, sorry. Based around the 5 stages of a relationship


End file.
